Everton boss Roberto Martinez is convinced that Llorente has what it takes to flourish in the Premier League, and around the time of Liverpool's prior interest, he told reporters:

"Whatever price you can afford to pay for Llorente you will have to double it. Otherwise they [Bilbao] won't sell him. He would be a great Premier League player".

Italian legend Gianluca Vialli also believes that Llorente still has a lot to offer. In a recent interview, he enthused:

“Llorente is an excellent striker that every coach would like to have. He is a striker that can give you lots of options, as a starter or the twelfth player onto the pitch to change the match.”

Llorente - who received a World Cup winner's medal with Spain - is an upgrade on Balotelli, Borini, and Lambert, but he is most definitely not the prolific striker Liverpool need to fill the Suarez void.

Good player but he is way too slow and lethargic to play in our first team in front of Firmino and Coutinho who NEED a striker who can run in behind. Llorente cannot provide that. He is a target man and nothing that Balotelli cannot provide anyway. If we are going for a new striker we should be going after Aubameyang and Alcacer as realistic and suitable options to instantly improve our first team. They might be a bit pricey but they are worth it and I would rather see £16m be spent on one of them than Llorente.

NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO. NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO. NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO. NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO.Maybe.

*Private message*Jamie, I've got an idea, this time next year we could be millionaires:Why don't you contact LFC and try and get us some kind of group ticket, to one of next seasons games.You could have a poll on your site as to which one we should go to and we could all wear LFC Kop hats (£15.99 each would be a fair price), peaked ones, which we should insist are worn at a jaunty angle. Logan could be the hat-angle-confirmation officer. I don't think we'd need to pay him but instead offer him a chance to meet Brendan with which he would be deliriously happy.I really do think this is a good idea and am more than happy to help you set up an account for payment, it could be somewhere in Jamafrica or similar where we could avoid taxation.

...please put me out of my misery and tell me you are just bored like I was about two-three days ago when my brain just melted and I started posting here talking drivel just to make the time go by.....

...no disrespect meant Case but please tell me..are we favorites or can I safely go back to my cave and carry on dribbling from my bottom lip while talking gibberish to myself....?

Sorry DinMan, all that you said about drivel, melted brains and such, pretty much encapsulates my Lacazette post BUT it was mixed in with a massive does of Sunday evening optimism and hopefulness.Hey, I grew up with the Whizzer though - I mean it's a quite a well written document compared to the rags of today.I did have a semi serious idea somewhere on this site for a 'collective LFC/K jaunt' we could all have - what say you - in a serious manor why not? Lets pick the home game against utd next season and all go and give em hell :)

....I especially liked your quote 'this time next year we could be millionaires'..

.its rather appropriate for me at present as finances are rather cr*ppy which is why going to anfield is staying a dream rather than a distinct possibility..reason why I didn't altogether jump at your suggestion (brilliant one by the way)..

..but like you say in the Trotter's magic quote above...anything can change...(crossing fingers) :)

I don't understand why we keep being linked to target men but I suspect Rodgers has a 4-2-3-1 in his head and wants a big man up front who can hold the ball up and lay off the 3 attacking midfielders who I suspect will be (left to right) Lallana, Coutinho and Firmino with Hendo and Milner holding.Sturridge could play that system or could form a partnership with a switch back to the diamond... Or 3-5-2... So many options *rubs his hands together* Damn it's so long til the season starts :-(

Hey DinMan, I'm not that far removed from the crappy finances, same as yourself mate. That's why I like our Club for keeping a point of common euphoria, when we win - times they are good, and when we don't - things are always about to get better :)

Though about Llorente, I'd rather we went after Dzeko if we were to bring in a big man. I'd rather Benteke if the price is right as well. He might not be what we need, but he's a whole lot closer than some other of the rumors.

...amazing isn't it Case..how people such as us can see the 'diamond among the turd' so to speak..

..or the good in sh*tty circumstances...some one had a right go at me few days ago when I expressed that I'd failed at so many turns in life and yet learnt so much..that I'd been enriched from all the good I'd gleaned from it.....but she freaked out and said i shouldn't mention failure...as if it would destroy her to even contemplate the word...

...I quietly listened and accepted what she said, I didn't want to finish her off completely, then carried on after laughing within myself...only someone who can fail so much and still regard themselves as a winner can claim inner strength...

...so a glass up to you Case and may good times come.....and we accept them with grace....

...amazing isn't it Case..how people such as us can see the 'diamond among the t*rd' so to speak..

..or the good in sh*tty circumstances...some one had a right go at me few days ago when I expressed that I'd failed at so many turns in life and yet learnt so much..that I'd been enriched from all the good I'd gleaned from it.....but she freaked out and said i shouldn't mention failure...as if it would destroy her to even contemplate the word...

...I quietly listened and accepted what she said, I didn't want to finish her off completely, then carried on after laughing within myself...only someone who can fail so much and still regard themselves as a winner can claim inner strength...

...so a glass up to you Case and may good times come.....and we accept them with grace....

agree with the youth we're buying they look really good...with some decent coaching they will be real stars and we look like we've been shrewd with where we get them too..all recent ones look very technical...

..hey not you do you have a clue why some don't like benteke and others like fowler, lawrenson and aldridge do....I like him and feel he's a million miles away from baloteli benteke runs active does this channels stuff hold the ball up etc, puts a foot in...

I think the main fear with most of us is that if we got Benteke/Llorente, 'big men' as they are called, we will resort to playing route 1 football, trying to lob it up to him. We did it with Crouch, we did it with Carroll and we tried to with Lambert, and it just doesnt work. We play our best football with fluid, liquid attacking midfielders like Coutinho, Sterling, Ibe and now Firmino, feeding through balls in behind a defense to a quick centre forward like Suarez, Sturridge, Torres etc. I will have to disagree big time with your final statement, saying Benteke is like Drogba with added spice... Drogba is amongst the top strikers of the PL era. He's up there with Henry, Bergkamp, Suarez, Shearer, Owen, Fowler and Torres. Benteke isnt even in the same bracket, not even close.

That does appear increasingly like the direction we're heading in. Seems odd because I thought BR would be aiming for a similar set up to 2014/15, granted we had two strikers then, but neither was really a target man per se, although I suppose we did try to get the ball to Suarez whenever possible :)If your right then perhaps Brendan really did want Balo last summer too and maybe the Spurs game was what he had in mind all along.

It's funny I just checked the wiki page on that tournament and the amount of players there that you've never heard of again...goes to show how difficult it is to make it through the ranks in football. I think Freddie Adu played with the US that tournament too. Spain lined up with Garrido who is now at Norwich. Even winners Argentina. Their goalkeeper Ustari couldn't get a game at Sunderland, their left back now plays second division football in his homecountry, the right back plays in Chile albeit with Colo-Colo. The only household names to come from their lineup from the final are Messi, Zabaleta and Garay and to a lesser extent Fernando Gago and our very own Gabriel Paletta.

...ps. I'm not entirely sure my last sentence can really qualify as a statement..cos its not really hard fact, more a proposed idea, they're both 6'3", big strong, are strikers and run around playing football on green grass...and that's about where my expertise stops....however, my wishful thinking has got me through in life on more occasions than one.. :)